Gerald Schmidt Email & Phone Number

Chelmsford, Ma, Us

Currently serve as a technical and business advisor to companies who have an interest in commercializing innovative undersea technologies. Specialties include towed sonar array design; mine hunting, mine neutralization, obstacle avoidance, and surveillance sensor development; design for manufacturing (DFM); business development; production planning; supply chain management; continuous improvement; and business acquisition, integration, and transformation.

Melbourne, Florida, Us

L3Harris Chesapeake Sciences Corporation (CSC) designs and manufactures electronic data acquisition systems for use in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), ship self-defense, acoustic ranges, and geophysical exploration. Led production of next-generation towed sonar systems for surface, AUV, and submarine applications at L3Harris CSC. Participated in the simultaneous development and transition of two of the US Navy's most advanced towed arrays to the fleet while overseeing all of L3Harris' production operations in Millersville, MD and Ashaway, RI. Transformed the Ashaway site into an L3Harris Center of Excellence by doubling its production staff and completing a 15,000 square foot expansion, allowing the company to consolidate all of its future towed array integration and test activities within this one location.

Littleton, Massachusetts, Us

Materials Systems Inc. (MSI) designs and manufactures sonar arrays and sensors. The company was integrated with CTG in October 2014. Now a division of Amphenol.Led the transformation of this start-up, engineering research firm into a mature, product-based manufacturing business; sold the company; then helped to integrate it with a new parent company.► PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION – Leveraged Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) programs and resulting intellectual property to build a diversified portfolio of manufactured products (commercial, industrial & military) through applications engineering.► STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT – Used short-term commercial product development to build the company’s manufacturing credentials and infrastructure; then pursued long-term military applications with a 10-15 year product life.► SALES GROWTH – Increased product sales by a factor of 8; now 87% of MSI’s total business.► PROFITABILITY – Improved key production lines 30% by investing in Lean / Six Sigma / Kaizen initiatives. ► PRODUCT QUALITY – Achieved scrap and rework levels below 2% on all core product lines.► ON-TIME DELIVERY – Consistently achieved delivery commitments through tight-knit production teams, centralized reporting, targeted cross-training, and earned-value project management. ► CUSTOMER SATISFACTION – Surveyed and achieved high satisfaction ratings by creating a customer-focused culture.► HARVEST & DIVESTMENT – Marketed and sold the business. Leadership role in all stages of the sale process: selecting investment banker, identifying potential acquirers, preparing marketing materials, and communicating with prospective buyers.► BUSINESS INTEGRATION – Successfully integrated MSI with new parent company. Retained customers while relocating and re-starting core manufacturing operations on the west coast.

Littleton, Massachusetts, Us

Led the company’s entry into the products business. Went from providing R&D services, mainly for the US Navy, to offering complete sonar and ultrasound transducer solutions for wide range of commercial, industrial, and military customers.Served as primary customer contact and liaison. Developed conceptual designs, performed technical analyses, prepared proposals, and assembled project teams. ► SALES GROWTH – Grew commercial product sales at 22% annual rate during initial 3 years as Director of Business Development and a sustained 15% (CAGR) over the combined 15 years since assuming leadership role in MSI’s products business.► MARKET EXPANSION – Led a company-wide push into international markets (Europe, Asia, and Australia). Identified local representatives, established export compliance procedures, and won MSI’s first international sales contracts.► BRAND DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING – Improved website, advertisements, brochures, and trade show exhibits. ► RAPID CUSTOMER RESPONSE – Reduced response time by almost 50% by assembling cohesive business capture teams, establishing criteria for opportunity selection, and standardizing designs and engineering procedures.► INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS – Served as key interface with internal and external (customer) engineering teams. Early applications engineering work led to dozens of new products and years of repeat business.

Littleton, Massachusetts, Us

Responsible for managing multi-year sonar and actuator programs for military and commercial customers. Developed new technologies and expanded MSI’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio.► TECHNICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT – Managed several multi-year technology programs. Led to follow-on contracts with DARPA, ONR, and NAVSEA.► PROPOSAL WRITING – Co-authored winning SBIR proposals for surveillance arrays, acoustic modems, and actuators.► ENGINEERING RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT – Developed new transducer designs and fabrication technologies. Co-authored several patents. Leveraged these patents and related IP to create MSI’s initial portfolio of transducer products.

Frederick, Maryland, Us

Wilcoxon designs and manufactures piezoelectric sensors, actuators, hydrophones, and vibration monitoring systems for commercial, industrial, and defense applications. Now a division of Amphenol Corporation.Managed the mechanical engineering department and coordinated development of new transducer designs for military aircraft, predictive maintenance, machine tool monitoring, and seismic research. ► NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – Managed cross-functional application engineering teams responsible for product development. Introduced the company’s first Integrated Product Development Process to reduce average product development time from 8 months to less than 5 months.► COST REDUCTION – Reduced component costs and streamlined core assembly processes. Enabled price reductions to improve company’s competitive position. ► MARKET EXPANSION – Led product development team in developing the company’s first internally amplified accelerometer capable of operating at 150°C. Allowed the company to expand into adjacent markets and become the worldwide leader in supplying industrial accelerometers to paper mills.► SALES INCREASE – Improved bonding and soldering process yields to increase profit on the company’s highest volume accelerometer. By passing along savings to customers, the company was also able to increase sales volume of this core product by 12% to surpass 20,000 units per year.► APPLIED RESEARCH – Met with customers to understand their emerging needs. Developed high temperature electronics for shear-mode and compression-mode sensors that allowed Wilcoxon to double its warranty period; resulted in $500K of additional business annually.

Raleigh, Nc, Us

Martin Marietta Aero & Naval Systems was a pioneer in developing towed array sonar systems for US Navy surface ships and submarines. Formerly Gould Ocean Systems, it is now part of Lockheed Martin Integrated Warfare Systems & Sensors.Responsible for coordinating internal R&D spending for the Ocean Systems Division. Identified improvement opportunities, prepared proposals, assembled project teams, managed programs, and transitioned new technologies into production towed array sonar systems.► NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – Participated in developing a new acoustic sensor that was projected to reduce the array cost by $70K per system and $2.8M over the life of the program.► TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT – Managed a total of seven programs to develop new hydrophones, reduce hydrodynamic flow noise, and isolate acoustic sensors from tow cable vibration.► DESIGN INNOVATION – Co-developed the winning electromechanical design concept for the Navy’s most advanced towed array built to date. Invented a new fiber strength member termination method that provided almost twice the internal strength per volume and an assembly technique that allowed a 65% increase in target detection. Received Aero & Naval Systems “Engineer of the Year” award for this innovation.► LEADERSHIP & TEAMWORK – Lead mechanical engineer on full-scale engineering development program. Supported a wide range of ongoing sonar array and handling system development efforts for the US Navy. Worked as a team to successfully transition multiple towed array systems into full production.► PROPOSAL WRITING – Significant technical contributor on a major engineering development proposal; led to an $80M contract award.► MANUFACTURING SUPPORT – Served as key liaison between engineering and manufacturing during production scale-up of multiple towed array sonar systems.

Masters Degree In Business Administration (Mba), Global Business & Innovation

Masters Degree In Mechanical Engineering (Msme), Solid Mechanics

Bachelors Degree In Mechanical Engineering (Bsme)